As Australia's cricketers re-engage in this summer's Ashes hostilities, the Australian game finds itself in an equally fierce off-field battle, with a challenge to the sport's traditional summer stronghold coming from soccer.

A recent study by sports research group Gemba points to significantly increased soccer participation figures, with 960,000 Australians involved in formal competitions under the control of the Football Federation of Australia. A further million Australians are involved in some form of unorganised soccer. In the meantime Cricket Australia has released its annual census figures, also pointing to increased participation: 952,000. For the sake of this reporting, CA defines a participant as anyone participating in club cricket, school cricket or any of their official entry-level programmes for a period in excess of four weeks in the reporting year.

These recent results continue in line with what the board says is a trend of 5% year-on-year growth over the last decade. The numbers look impressive on the surface but the spike has also been driven by the decision three years ago to include figures for the 177,000 indoor-cricket participants across the country. The figures are bolstered further by recent efforts to increase the reach of children's participation programmes in primary schools and cricket clubs.

The healthy numbers are what Roy Morgan Market Research expert George Pesutto likens to "growth by acquisition" rather than an actual surge in the popularity of the game. He doesn't believe that the doubling of CA's participation rates in the past decade reflects the actual growth of cricket in Australia. Pesutto agrees that CA has had success with its youth participation programmes and claims that it is the combination of those, a successful Ashes summer, and the move of Big Bash League T20 cricket to free-to-air TV that will underpin healthy short-term growth for the sport in Australia.

Cricket Australia's executive general manager of game and market development, Andrew Ingleton, believes that cricket and its sporting competitors can happily co-exist, and that, for now, soccer doesn't pose a threat to cricket participation rates. "In one sense I'm delighted to see any sport growing, because generally the kids who play soccer and play footy also play cricket. I don't see that as a threat at all in terms of stealing kids away from cricket."

Ingelton says that a key plank of CA's strategy to win over a younger generation of cricket fans is to get them playing the game at a young age. CA is now strategically focused in turning youth participants into fans of the game and Ingleton has been tasked with making that happen.

"There is a really clear relationship. A participant in the game, whether they are a player or club volunteer or a coach or an umpire, is far more likely to be a fan and consumer of the game," he says, while also pointing to the Gemba report findings that a participant is four to five times more likely to be a consumer of the game. He says that CA has "spent a lot more money marketing participation this year", and sees it as a way to capture lifelong fans at a young age. This summer CA's advertising that focuses on promoting participation has multiplied by a factor of five and been integrated into the strategy for promoting the game in general.

Ingleton sees T20 cricket as a fundamental element of the strategy to woo children to become players and supporters. "One of the key objectives of the Big Bash competition is to generate new fans, and clearly if some of those new fans are young kids, we can also be potentially finding new players."

"Growing the BBL fan base is a natural symptom of putting it on free-to-air and making it more accessible to people"

George Pesutto, market research expert

In addition to CA's "Milo in2CRICKET" programme aimed at five-to-eight-year-olds and delivered on a national scale through primary schools and cricket clubs, rapid uptake of the new "T20 Blast" programme has helped drive participation numbers in the 12 months since its inception. The eight-week programme is CA's attempt to build a bridge between junior participation programmes and local cricket clubs throughout the country.

But soccer is on the march, with the A League now occupying the same summer real estate that cricket had long called its own. Upon release of the Gemba figures on soccer's growth, FFA chief executive David Gallop claimed, "We are now an authentic Australian sport with a broad, diverse following and a national spread that no other sport can match." Cricket Australia is equally keen to be all things to all people, and Ingleton often repeats his boss James Sutherland's mantra that "cricket is a game for all Australians and for everybody".

As part of that organisational push to appeal to the broadest cross-section of Australian society, CA has handed marketing contracts to Pakistani-born legspinner Fawad Ahmed and young New South Wales paceman Gurinder Sandhu. Ingleton believes that the publicity surrounding both them and Usman Khawaja could be vital in promoting the diversity and openness of a game whose Australian roots are so mono-cultural. Ingelton says, "We know we'll have been successful when every club reflects the community in which it's based and you can see yourself in the club. Players like Gurinder and Fawad and Usman provide us with an opportunity to present some heroes to kids from their communities. Just like any kid, if you get to meet a Test player or a state player and you can hear their journey, it demystifies things."

In addition to the rapid growth in entry-level participation programmes, CA has been pleased by significant growth in female participation over the last two summers. Its latest census data points to 18% growth in female participation over the last 12 months to go with an equal number the following year. This equates to close to 180,000 female participants in outdoor cricket.

Ingleton sees the surge in female participation as a virtue of not only the success of Australia's national team over that period but the uptake of entry-level programmes in primary schools nationwide. In addition, CA has fully integrated its "Play Cricket" website with the pre-existing MyCricket portal, meaning it is far easier for parents of interested children to find a place to play through the club-finder facility. "A mother whose daughter comes home and says, 'Hey, I really enjoyed a T20 Blast School Cup today and I want to play cricket', can go online and work out where she can play, where the nearest club is, learn about the club," says Ingleton.

Getting kids playing is only half the battle, and in a fragmented and competitive media landscape, cricket can no longer afford to rest on its laurels. Sports television viewership research, compiled by Roy Morgan over the past decade, indicates that a clear gulf still exists between the number of Australians who regularly catch cricket on TV and those who watch soccer. In the period between October 2012 and September 2013, it says that 39% of Australians regularly watched some form of cricket, while 21% tuned in to watch soccer. Only 8% of Australians regularly watched A League Soccer broadcasts in that competition's first year and that number has not dramatically moved since. In the same period cricket saw a gradual decrease from 45% to the current number of 39%.

Game attendance, stadium capacities and the fact that cricket now boasts three formats indicate that double the number of Australians attended some form of cricket match than soccer was able to draw over the past 12 months. Though Pesutto grants that Roy Morgan uses different metrics than CA, its research backs up the FFA's claim that soccer now boasts the higher participation rate.

One person well qualified to point out soccer's rise within the Australian sporting landscape is the head of the A League, Damien De Bohun, who previously held Ingleton's position as CA's manager of game and market development. He recently said that the sport is well on track to be the most dominant in the land. "It may take ten years, it may take 20, but we are absolutely convinced it will happen… There is no question interest in football is increasing at speed."

For all the bluff and bluster of the various codes and the claims and counter-claims on participation rates and growth, Cricket Australia is aware that progress needs to be sustainable in the long term. Following the negotiation of the latest lucrative media rights projections, its AGM was used as a platform to spruik a revenue growth of 63% over the last four-year cycle, a great deal of which will be reinvested in grassroots programmes through a strategic investment fund presented as a A$70 million war chest. Investments so far include the establishment of a national community cricket facilities fund, which Ingleton says will contribute $5-10 million in funding to help the game grow at grassroots level and encourage a new generation to take it up.

CA has also seen its heavy financial and philosophical investment in the Big Bash pay off, with domestic rights now accounting for a projected 65% of the broadcast revenue in the four-year cycle that ends in 2015-16, making it less reliant on revenue from the subcontinent. While the board says that 13% of attendees for last year's Big Bash had never been to a cricket match, it is also aware of the need to keep them coming back. Channel Ten's Big Bash broadcast will help, and Pesutto says: "Growing the fan base is a natural symptom of putting it on free-to-air and making it more accessible to people."

To some extent these can be seen as controllable elements, unlike the national team's performance, upon which so much of the sport's appeal eventually hinges. Everyone loves a winner but it's not just the Ashes that Australian cricket is fighting for this summer.

Russell Jackson is a cricket lover who blogs about sports in the present and nostalgic tense for the Guardian and the Wasted Afternoons. He tweets here

The dominance of soccer is a truimph of marketing. Cricket basically fell asleep in the fifty post war years as far as commercialization goes. I am glad that CA is at least showing awareness that it competes in a global commercial sports market.
T20 should be the primary "commercial" vehicle for the game. Test cricket needs to be made relevant with a schedule that consists of each country playing a 3 test series each calendar year (and no more) culminating in a World Cup every four years. And yes, market the heck out of the test matches-adverts, kids watch free etc.
Cricket in the WI to me is still vulnerable to extinction. the pics on Cricinfo show empty stadiums regardless of the format. Speacial attention should be paid to reviving cricket in the WI. Its loss would be tragic.

dummy4fb
on December 4, 2013, 10:07 GMT

It's not only the matter of/in Australia, it's something Global. Yes, Cricket is not rising as it should have been, bitter yet true. The reason is obvious that the ICC is simply doing nothing for the promotion of this fantastic game. Yes a fantastic game, a person who prefers football (soccer in some part of the world, but it's Football) over cricket, it is and its administrative body should equally be as fantastic as the sport itself is but the reverse is happening. Look at FIFA for an instance, it's doing superb for the game and it probably has more members than the UN itself (even if it's not true, it's not a crime as number of FIFA member nations is overwhelming). In other hand ICC is staying like self-satisfied and may be contained saying it's has the likes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, one of the top populated countries and the globally well-known countries like England, Australia & South Africa, which is utter rubbish. ICC should do serious works to promote and globalize Cric!

samip07
on December 4, 2013, 9:53 GMT

i am very surprised to see these sort of reaction from people of test playing nations.you organise a T-20 world cup and allow just two associate nation to qualify for the real world cup if they manage to beat 2 of your full nations and expect the popularity of game to increase.. wake up dear...unless u make an initiative to give more opportunity to new nations...these sort stories wont be a surprising one..

dummy4fb
on December 4, 2013, 7:36 GMT

I think what really goes out against cricket that neither it is appreciated by popular global culture (count the number of Hollywood cricket movies) nor it has big names of European super football clubs to call on at flick of finger to pump up the hype . As an outsiders perpspective I think the only cricket competitions relevant for,an avrage aussie is the ashes and the cwc. In ashes I think even English are not much interested in it anymore (2005 was long time ago)and in CWC only us , the Indians, seem to be interested along with subcontinent teams.
This problem should be addressed by ICC to stop the decline of game in old strongholds. Paying lip service wont do any good. Cricket needs context to create genuine fight for supremacy. Cricket needs new countries to embrace it which seems to be pipe dreams. Cricket needs a global superstar to inspire kids from around the world and ironically SRT just retired. This sport is nothing bad as non believers make it outo be. We have to show them

ygkd
on December 4, 2013, 6:38 GMT

different forms of the game, but it won't help secure the game's future if things look all too complicated. It is simple really - cricket I believe is losing too many talented teens. That has a snowball effect - it lowers the quality of the competitions and discourages those remaining to really give it a red-hot go. I know the Big Bash is an attempt at replicating football clubs, but it doesn't sit well with the international (read Ashes) focus of the national team. Cricket can't be all things to all people. What it can do is provide more support for young players who have invested heavily in the game. AFL does that. If soccer gets its act together, cricket will rue the day it didn't try harder in that respect. It could find that plenty start out on the journey, but few come close to finishing it.

ygkd
on December 4, 2013, 6:27 GMT

"Just like any kid, if you get to meet a Test player or a state player and you can hear their journey, it demystifies things." Yes, well, demystification is a good point. I'd suggest that the journey to modern cricket professionalism has become mystifying and meeting a pro player won't help that much in getting the average kid or parent to understand how it can happen. The problem with cricket in Australia is its very top-down management. It is a structure that worked well for years, but now we have not just Shield and grade cricket, but also the Big Bash, pathways etc. Club-based football codes look more accessible to aspiring kids - far easier to understand and far more supportive. Cricket burns talented kids because too many decisions rest with too few - whether in the pathways or higher up. Football codes are more democratic it would seem and give a wider possibility of entry points and outcomes. It's all very well to pay a few players as diversity role-models and to promote (cont)

dummy4fb
on December 4, 2013, 3:31 GMT

CRICKET is the BEST. Futbal cant ever match the beauty of Cricket..Cricket has many many aspects to it unlike soccer..Love Cricket Love Life :) SIMPLE & EASY :) :) :)

cricmatters
on December 4, 2013, 2:55 GMT

@anton1234 Best Idea I ever heard. Hope Cricket Australia is listening. Installing public bowling machines on nets is going to hugely popular as lot of parents spent their time in the nets to teach the kids. Cricket is a very technical game. Not many kids would advance past under 12's without proper guidance. Footy is huge in Melbourne. I see more kids in off season footy clinic during summer than cricket practice at my ground in Melbourne Victoria. Cricket lovers should not take their game for granted. Soccer and footy are becoming more main stream and Cricket has to fight for its place among all other sports.

Chris_P
on December 4, 2013, 0:27 GMT

I really think this article is over the top. For starters FFA put almost zero funding into junior sports. We recently had a new clubhouse built on our major ground along with the other 3 associations who use it throughout the year, Soccer, Rugby League & Athletics. NSW Cricket gave us our share of the grant generated from the Sydney Test, The NRL & Athletics Australia coughed up their share of the grants, the poor local soccer club had to increase their player fees & runs hundreds of raffles after getting ZERO from NSW Soccer. Yep, way to go, guys. Soccer will always have their support base but no way will it ever be a mainstream force. No chance.

Jonah58
on December 3, 2013, 23:21 GMT

So long as there is the 'Sovereignty' issue that stops T20 being played as an Olympic sport, and whilst there is a pay per view monopoly on marque series Cricket will continue its decline into an insignificant niche sport. The issues are far wider than just a Australian one its a global problem that only a radical change of direction in the highest levels of the ICC will prevent. England 2005 and the ashes on free to air we were turning kids away from our colts section. Since it moved to Pay TV we get noticeably less new colts turn up each year.

pestonji
on December 4, 2013, 18:44 GMT

The dominance of soccer is a truimph of marketing. Cricket basically fell asleep in the fifty post war years as far as commercialization goes. I am glad that CA is at least showing awareness that it competes in a global commercial sports market.
T20 should be the primary "commercial" vehicle for the game. Test cricket needs to be made relevant with a schedule that consists of each country playing a 3 test series each calendar year (and no more) culminating in a World Cup every four years. And yes, market the heck out of the test matches-adverts, kids watch free etc.
Cricket in the WI to me is still vulnerable to extinction. the pics on Cricinfo show empty stadiums regardless of the format. Speacial attention should be paid to reviving cricket in the WI. Its loss would be tragic.

dummy4fb
on December 4, 2013, 10:07 GMT

It's not only the matter of/in Australia, it's something Global. Yes, Cricket is not rising as it should have been, bitter yet true. The reason is obvious that the ICC is simply doing nothing for the promotion of this fantastic game. Yes a fantastic game, a person who prefers football (soccer in some part of the world, but it's Football) over cricket, it is and its administrative body should equally be as fantastic as the sport itself is but the reverse is happening. Look at FIFA for an instance, it's doing superb for the game and it probably has more members than the UN itself (even if it's not true, it's not a crime as number of FIFA member nations is overwhelming). In other hand ICC is staying like self-satisfied and may be contained saying it's has the likes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, one of the top populated countries and the globally well-known countries like England, Australia & South Africa, which is utter rubbish. ICC should do serious works to promote and globalize Cric!

samip07
on December 4, 2013, 9:53 GMT

i am very surprised to see these sort of reaction from people of test playing nations.you organise a T-20 world cup and allow just two associate nation to qualify for the real world cup if they manage to beat 2 of your full nations and expect the popularity of game to increase.. wake up dear...unless u make an initiative to give more opportunity to new nations...these sort stories wont be a surprising one..

dummy4fb
on December 4, 2013, 7:36 GMT

I think what really goes out against cricket that neither it is appreciated by popular global culture (count the number of Hollywood cricket movies) nor it has big names of European super football clubs to call on at flick of finger to pump up the hype . As an outsiders perpspective I think the only cricket competitions relevant for,an avrage aussie is the ashes and the cwc. In ashes I think even English are not much interested in it anymore (2005 was long time ago)and in CWC only us , the Indians, seem to be interested along with subcontinent teams.
This problem should be addressed by ICC to stop the decline of game in old strongholds. Paying lip service wont do any good. Cricket needs context to create genuine fight for supremacy. Cricket needs new countries to embrace it which seems to be pipe dreams. Cricket needs a global superstar to inspire kids from around the world and ironically SRT just retired. This sport is nothing bad as non believers make it outo be. We have to show them

ygkd
on December 4, 2013, 6:38 GMT

different forms of the game, but it won't help secure the game's future if things look all too complicated. It is simple really - cricket I believe is losing too many talented teens. That has a snowball effect - it lowers the quality of the competitions and discourages those remaining to really give it a red-hot go. I know the Big Bash is an attempt at replicating football clubs, but it doesn't sit well with the international (read Ashes) focus of the national team. Cricket can't be all things to all people. What it can do is provide more support for young players who have invested heavily in the game. AFL does that. If soccer gets its act together, cricket will rue the day it didn't try harder in that respect. It could find that plenty start out on the journey, but few come close to finishing it.

ygkd
on December 4, 2013, 6:27 GMT

"Just like any kid, if you get to meet a Test player or a state player and you can hear their journey, it demystifies things." Yes, well, demystification is a good point. I'd suggest that the journey to modern cricket professionalism has become mystifying and meeting a pro player won't help that much in getting the average kid or parent to understand how it can happen. The problem with cricket in Australia is its very top-down management. It is a structure that worked well for years, but now we have not just Shield and grade cricket, but also the Big Bash, pathways etc. Club-based football codes look more accessible to aspiring kids - far easier to understand and far more supportive. Cricket burns talented kids because too many decisions rest with too few - whether in the pathways or higher up. Football codes are more democratic it would seem and give a wider possibility of entry points and outcomes. It's all very well to pay a few players as diversity role-models and to promote (cont)

dummy4fb
on December 4, 2013, 3:31 GMT

CRICKET is the BEST. Futbal cant ever match the beauty of Cricket..Cricket has many many aspects to it unlike soccer..Love Cricket Love Life :) SIMPLE & EASY :) :) :)

cricmatters
on December 4, 2013, 2:55 GMT

@anton1234 Best Idea I ever heard. Hope Cricket Australia is listening. Installing public bowling machines on nets is going to hugely popular as lot of parents spent their time in the nets to teach the kids. Cricket is a very technical game. Not many kids would advance past under 12's without proper guidance. Footy is huge in Melbourne. I see more kids in off season footy clinic during summer than cricket practice at my ground in Melbourne Victoria. Cricket lovers should not take their game for granted. Soccer and footy are becoming more main stream and Cricket has to fight for its place among all other sports.

Chris_P
on December 4, 2013, 0:27 GMT

I really think this article is over the top. For starters FFA put almost zero funding into junior sports. We recently had a new clubhouse built on our major ground along with the other 3 associations who use it throughout the year, Soccer, Rugby League & Athletics. NSW Cricket gave us our share of the grant generated from the Sydney Test, The NRL & Athletics Australia coughed up their share of the grants, the poor local soccer club had to increase their player fees & runs hundreds of raffles after getting ZERO from NSW Soccer. Yep, way to go, guys. Soccer will always have their support base but no way will it ever be a mainstream force. No chance.

Jonah58
on December 3, 2013, 23:21 GMT

So long as there is the 'Sovereignty' issue that stops T20 being played as an Olympic sport, and whilst there is a pay per view monopoly on marque series Cricket will continue its decline into an insignificant niche sport. The issues are far wider than just a Australian one its a global problem that only a radical change of direction in the highest levels of the ICC will prevent. England 2005 and the ashes on free to air we were turning kids away from our colts section. Since it moved to Pay TV we get noticeably less new colts turn up each year.

ygkd
on December 3, 2013, 20:57 GMT

Playing cricket to a high junior standard is expensive. Okay, it doesn't cost as much as equestrian, but it does cost a lot more than soccer or Aussie Rules - just look at the cost of quality bats etc. Then there's the time it swallows up - whole weekends plus several weekday evenings not uncommonly. My neck of the woods produces AFL footy players. Those young blokes will get paid (something at least) to play long before they turn professional or semi-pro. Cricketers have no real semi-professional tier. It is a love-job, not a potential career, except for the few. Grass-roots cricket looks in good shape based on current numbers but, as the article suggests, those numbers are not telling the whole story. Backyard cricket is largely a thing of the past. Schools don't want to be involved, on the whole. I saw the other day that the ACA wants more spent on grassroots development and fair enough too. CA cannot afford to be complacent. Australia is changing and cricket could be left behind.

chechong0114
on December 3, 2013, 18:24 GMT

The game of cricket is filled with so much bureaucracy that i am never surprised whenever i read articles of this nature. The sport is its own worst enemy thats why it continues to gain very little fan interest throughout. There is almost nothing about the sport that is appealing to the future generation. From the girly white uniforms grown men play in for test matches to all the harsh penalties that is met out to players from simple on field infringes. The game lacks flair, and has very little imagination. Why not experiment with colored uniforms at test level as well as day night test matches what do they have to lose, they already are making nothing. The game seriously needs to rid itself of drawn series and it must be win or lose if teams are playing at home they have home court advantage they must win or give up the cup to the visitors if the home team are the cup champions this format may cause more fans to come to the ground because more is at stake try other things please.

Green_and_Gold
on December 3, 2013, 17:13 GMT

Dont price kids or adults out of the game - how much is a cricket bat these days - not cheap. Im in Eng and know where to get some good deals but from what ive heard in Aus prices are just silly. Compare the cost to set yourself up in cricket to football and you will soon see that value belongs to football. If you want to get kids and adults to play then you need to offer better value.

anton1234
on December 3, 2013, 16:04 GMT

You can get these huge attendances when big English soccer teams play in Australia, just like there will, no doubt, full houses at the SCG when two US Major League Baseball teams kick off the 2014 MLB season. But if they played baseball regularly,then the crowds will very minimal. It's the novelty factor.

Also, if you look at soccer in France and especially Italy's Series A you see so many empty seats at grounds. It was unthinkable during the 1990s and early 2000s. These days, in the age of internet, it appears a lot of people like to follow sports on TV, radio and the internet.

anton1234
on December 3, 2013, 15:58 GMT

The thing with football, just like basketball in the US, is that all you need is a ball to get a game going. Both sports are instantaneous. Cricket on the other hand needs to be organised to get enjoyment out of it. You simply can't play cricket with 2-3 people as you would be spending more time retrieving the ball than actually playing, I think one of the best ways to get more kids playing cricket is to install cricket nets in public parks together with bowling machines. This way the kids can go and bat against balls bowled by the machine. But then you have the problem of thieves who will no doubt steal the machines.

Meety
on December 3, 2013, 10:39 GMT

Soccer has just about always been the biggest particpant sport in Oz, but the fact is, it has so little appeal, the A-League is played out of season to survive. Kids still play soccer in droves on week ends in WINTER, there is no competition between the two. AFL stuffing up cricket pitches is the biggest concern.

dummy4fb
on December 3, 2013, 10:05 GMT

I love, play, and watch both. They don't clash. Football for the winter, cricket for the summer. Tests for the day-time and pre-game pub, A-League for the night time.

Easy.

anshu.s
on December 3, 2013, 9:38 GMT

As an outsider looking in , more precisely an Indian who spend sometime in Aus i have long maintained about the supermacy of AFL and NRL in Australian sporting landscape but there are mitigating factors like they being winter codes and being region specific but they can be no denying that Football or soccer as Australians like to refer it is fast making inroads, it is not A League which is fuelling the growth but very popular and high profile European leagues like EPL,La Liga which are the driving force, recently in june or July there were 95,000 folks at MCG to watch Liverpool play Melbourne Victory in a mere pre-season friendly,if you compare the attendance figures of a Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United with that of South Australia vs Victoria in a Shield or a Ryobi match former trumps the later by massive margins, as long as domestic first class teams are treated as just mere feeders to Australian Cricket team situation will not improve hence one should wait what impact BBL has .

dummy4fb
on December 3, 2013, 9:14 GMT

Decline in support is very simple. Less success and less prospects of success = less interest. When Aus win a World Cup in cricket, or the Ashes again, then there will be greater interest. Can safely say Aus aren't going to win the Football WC anytime soon.

LoungeChairCritic
on December 3, 2013, 7:27 GMT

Little_Aussie_Battler did you know that both Mark & Steve Waugh played both cricket and soccer as kids? Are they from southern european extraction? Like you, they probably had a vegemite sandwich in their lunch box instead of a mortadella continental roll. In the early 80's we all wanted to be Viv Richards or Denis Lillee. I am of southern european extraction and I can tell you that there are many Australian's of southern european extraction who love soccer, cricket, afl, league, basketball & union. l love both soccer and cricket because they make me proud to be Australian. I love AFL because it makes me proud to be from my very southern european enclave of Fremantle. Aloisi's penalty in the 2005 world cup qualifier together with Damien Flemings final over to Lance Klusener in the 1999 cricket world cup are my two favourite moments in Australian sport.

Matt12
on December 3, 2013, 6:53 GMT

Unfortunately, the younger generation (sub 13) is increasingly not into cricket...and in reality, nor are the parents.
Having coached both soccer and cricket, it is clear that there is a general groundswell in Australian kids sport. Very few of the soccer kids I coach in Sydney follow cricket at all and most could not name any current player beyond Clarke, Warner and Mitch Johnson. The parents are loath to let them play on a Sat as the games take ages, and are incredibly boring to watch, and we're seeing a growth of futsal (indoor soccer) as an alternative summer sport.
You don't even see much beach cricket on the beaches in the summer.
At the same time, soccer is exploding - participation rates are incredible particularly amongst the 6-10yrs old (boys and girls) and the O35's, with the main limiting factor being the lack of available fields.
Soccer still has problems converting beyond the 13's...and the A League is ok but anywhere near EPL standards.
However, I fear for cricket.

redneck
on December 3, 2013, 6:21 GMT

for starters soccer is a winter sport still for kids playing it, cricket is a summer sport. the A league moved to summer as footy and the rugby codes made it difficult to get headlines in winter. for years we've heard about how more kids play soccer than any other sport bla bla bla. when i was a kid i played soccer too, primarily because footy and dare i say rugby are hybred sports at junior level and have the rules modified to make them non contact!!! in summer cricket will always be king because 1. australia are no where near the best in the world in soccer, where in cricket there is outrage if we drop below 2nd in any format. 2. i can go watch the best in the world go about their business every year in cricket or footy or rugby that too in pretty much any state in the country, in soccer there is no chance of even seeing anyone near the best in the world come and certainly not in anything other than a half ass friendly played as a once off in sydney with opponents out of their depth!

Nuwan_R
on December 3, 2013, 5:57 GMT

I just can't believe there's no engagement for Cricket at schools level in Australia, especially public schools. I was stunned when I learned this after I migrated from Sri Lanka. Cricket can do very well at schools level if there was some program from CA, however they might feel uncomfortable if that puts their clubs under threat.

WeirPicki
on December 3, 2013, 5:06 GMT

Actual participation rates in organised competitions are falling each year. Trying to prop up the figures with "school programs" and indoor cricket numbers are folly.

cricwick
on December 3, 2013, 4:30 GMT

With cricket already losing its mainstream appeal in England and now faltering in Australia too, its survival now rests on India entirely. Add to that, the self-centredness of the major boards and their reluctance to encourage associates and push for it in the Olympics for the fear of losing clout and some small amounts of money the future of the game is in doubt. The day when another sport rivals its place in India cricket is really doomed. When will those in the ruling wake up and do something about?

Chris_P
on December 3, 2013, 3:40 GMT

The A League has its supporters, but nearly all matches are played in the evenings and on weekends. Cricket or junior cricket is still in a very healthy state, kids play soccer during our winter, they are not leaving cricket to play soccer. The A league has its niche, the WSW are the big success story but they represent a critical mass of the population so not really surprising.

No featured comments at the moment.

Chris_P
on December 3, 2013, 3:40 GMT

The A League has its supporters, but nearly all matches are played in the evenings and on weekends. Cricket or junior cricket is still in a very healthy state, kids play soccer during our winter, they are not leaving cricket to play soccer. The A league has its niche, the WSW are the big success story but they represent a critical mass of the population so not really surprising.

cricwick
on December 3, 2013, 4:30 GMT

With cricket already losing its mainstream appeal in England and now faltering in Australia too, its survival now rests on India entirely. Add to that, the self-centredness of the major boards and their reluctance to encourage associates and push for it in the Olympics for the fear of losing clout and some small amounts of money the future of the game is in doubt. The day when another sport rivals its place in India cricket is really doomed. When will those in the ruling wake up and do something about?

WeirPicki
on December 3, 2013, 5:06 GMT

Actual participation rates in organised competitions are falling each year. Trying to prop up the figures with "school programs" and indoor cricket numbers are folly.

Nuwan_R
on December 3, 2013, 5:57 GMT

I just can't believe there's no engagement for Cricket at schools level in Australia, especially public schools. I was stunned when I learned this after I migrated from Sri Lanka. Cricket can do very well at schools level if there was some program from CA, however they might feel uncomfortable if that puts their clubs under threat.

redneck
on December 3, 2013, 6:21 GMT

for starters soccer is a winter sport still for kids playing it, cricket is a summer sport. the A league moved to summer as footy and the rugby codes made it difficult to get headlines in winter. for years we've heard about how more kids play soccer than any other sport bla bla bla. when i was a kid i played soccer too, primarily because footy and dare i say rugby are hybred sports at junior level and have the rules modified to make them non contact!!! in summer cricket will always be king because 1. australia are no where near the best in the world in soccer, where in cricket there is outrage if we drop below 2nd in any format. 2. i can go watch the best in the world go about their business every year in cricket or footy or rugby that too in pretty much any state in the country, in soccer there is no chance of even seeing anyone near the best in the world come and certainly not in anything other than a half ass friendly played as a once off in sydney with opponents out of their depth!

Matt12
on December 3, 2013, 6:53 GMT

Unfortunately, the younger generation (sub 13) is increasingly not into cricket...and in reality, nor are the parents.
Having coached both soccer and cricket, it is clear that there is a general groundswell in Australian kids sport. Very few of the soccer kids I coach in Sydney follow cricket at all and most could not name any current player beyond Clarke, Warner and Mitch Johnson. The parents are loath to let them play on a Sat as the games take ages, and are incredibly boring to watch, and we're seeing a growth of futsal (indoor soccer) as an alternative summer sport.
You don't even see much beach cricket on the beaches in the summer.
At the same time, soccer is exploding - participation rates are incredible particularly amongst the 6-10yrs old (boys and girls) and the O35's, with the main limiting factor being the lack of available fields.
Soccer still has problems converting beyond the 13's...and the A League is ok but anywhere near EPL standards.
However, I fear for cricket.

LoungeChairCritic
on December 3, 2013, 7:27 GMT

Little_Aussie_Battler did you know that both Mark & Steve Waugh played both cricket and soccer as kids? Are they from southern european extraction? Like you, they probably had a vegemite sandwich in their lunch box instead of a mortadella continental roll. In the early 80's we all wanted to be Viv Richards or Denis Lillee. I am of southern european extraction and I can tell you that there are many Australian's of southern european extraction who love soccer, cricket, afl, league, basketball & union. l love both soccer and cricket because they make me proud to be Australian. I love AFL because it makes me proud to be from my very southern european enclave of Fremantle. Aloisi's penalty in the 2005 world cup qualifier together with Damien Flemings final over to Lance Klusener in the 1999 cricket world cup are my two favourite moments in Australian sport.

dummy4fb
on December 3, 2013, 9:14 GMT

Decline in support is very simple. Less success and less prospects of success = less interest. When Aus win a World Cup in cricket, or the Ashes again, then there will be greater interest. Can safely say Aus aren't going to win the Football WC anytime soon.

anshu.s
on December 3, 2013, 9:38 GMT

As an outsider looking in , more precisely an Indian who spend sometime in Aus i have long maintained about the supermacy of AFL and NRL in Australian sporting landscape but there are mitigating factors like they being winter codes and being region specific but they can be no denying that Football or soccer as Australians like to refer it is fast making inroads, it is not A League which is fuelling the growth but very popular and high profile European leagues like EPL,La Liga which are the driving force, recently in june or July there were 95,000 folks at MCG to watch Liverpool play Melbourne Victory in a mere pre-season friendly,if you compare the attendance figures of a Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United with that of South Australia vs Victoria in a Shield or a Ryobi match former trumps the later by massive margins, as long as domestic first class teams are treated as just mere feeders to Australian Cricket team situation will not improve hence one should wait what impact BBL has .

dummy4fb
on December 3, 2013, 10:05 GMT

I love, play, and watch both. They don't clash. Football for the winter, cricket for the summer. Tests for the day-time and pre-game pub, A-League for the night time.